JC Penney sold fabric?
02-07-2011, 08:25 PM
#281
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Posts: 857
Originally Posted by montanajan
Yes, Penney's used to sell lots of nice fabric. When I was a child, my mother bought ALL the fabric she used from Penney's. My aunt worked in the fabric department at the Great Falls, Montana Penney's. It was on the mezzanine next to bedding, kitchen & bath towels. The only other place I remember seeing fabric for sale as a kid was at the local Ben Franklin, & the quality was not durable enough for the clothing Mom made us. I wore mostly home-made dresses, & didn't have a coat from a store until I was 10. Mom would even make prom dresses with Penney's fabric from home-made tissue paper patterns after I'd show her what I wanted in a store. She could sew anything, & no one could tell our clothes weren't "ready made". When she taught me to sew, the fabric always came from Penney's. I continued to buy Penney's fabric for clothing when I was in college in the late 60's. I was sorry to see Penney's stop their fabric lines, sometime in the late 70's, I believe. BTW, I'm 64, so that may give you younger readers/quilters an idea of how long ago I was buying sewing material at a Penney's fabric department. LOL
02-08-2011, 07:02 AM
#282
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: GREAT STATE OF TEXAS
Posts: 1,415
Originally Posted by Dandish
I picked up some fabric at the thrift store today - a green gingham - that still had a JC Penney tag on it. It was apparently a remnant, 1-1/4 yards, with a price of 79 cents. I never knew Penney's had sold fabric - does anybody know when they stopped? I'd like to know if this is a true cotton gingham, too. I'd post a pic, but it's already in the washer. Perhaps later.
02-08-2011, 09:14 AM
#283
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Crossville TN
Posts: 182
Help me remember that measuring gauge. Something makes me think it made some sort of cut at the point the requested amount was reached. Does anyone else remember if this was the case and then the fabric was torn the rest of the way????
02-08-2011, 01:14 PM
#287
Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Denver CO
Posts: 93
I am from Nampa and Caldwell; thanks for reminding me what was available to buy and where we did it in the late 1940s, 1950s (4-H projects) through 1970s. Remember when Forsmann and Pendleton wools were available for "Make it Yourself in Wool" contests--and that $50 first prize was a big one! In early 1950s, while student at the C of I, I expected to be assigned to the fabric department as a part-time clerk. Instead, I was assistant to the tailor who taught me how to measure for proper cuff placement in trousers, hem a man's coat sleeve, allow for ease at the front of the lape. make a buttonhole by hand. This "course" has been as valuable in my life as any classes taken in college.
02-08-2011, 07:57 PM
#288
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Daytona Beach Shores, FL
Posts: 2,352
Originally Posted by beksclen
Help me remember that measuring gauge. Something makes me think it made some sort of cut at the point the requested amount was reached. Does anyone else remember if this was the case and then the fabric was torn the rest of the way????
02-12-2011, 01:12 PM
#289
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Grand Junction, Colorado
Posts: 2,247
Originally Posted by phatquilts2
Many of the department stores had a fabric section because home sewing was very popular back in that day. Do not remember when those fabric departments were banished.
Does anybody remember the measuring apparatus that was around six inches off of the table? The fabric was pulled through a slit and a round dial gauge with hands like a clock {?]or scale showed the yardage. Then the fabric clerk would push a lever which made a rip in the cloth. The fabric was then torn right in front of you and not cut with a scissors. In the rare instance that the print was all off grain you knew it right away. Anyway that was then and this is now, guess I am dating myself and a popsicle was a nickel. :lol: :roll:
Does anybody remember the measuring apparatus that was around six inches off of the table? The fabric was pulled through a slit and a round dial gauge with hands like a clock {?]or scale showed the yardage. Then the fabric clerk would push a lever which made a rip in the cloth. The fabric was then torn right in front of you and not cut with a scissors. In the rare instance that the print was all off grain you knew it right away. Anyway that was then and this is now, guess I am dating myself and a popsicle was a nickel. :lol: :roll:
A two scoop ice cream cone was a dime.
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